NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: March 12, 2010 David Fiske 202-418-0513 david.fiske@fcc.gov FCC CHAIRMAN GENACHOWSKI NAMES KAREN PELTZ STRAUSS AS DEPUTY CHIEF IN CONSUMER BUREAU Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Deputy Chief Karen Peltz Strauss. Ms. Strauss will focus on disability issues, among other things, and will help the Commission to implement the components of the National Broadband Plan that address access for people with disabilities, including leading the effort to develop a proposed Accessibility and Innovation Forum. “The FCC has a vital role to play in empowering and protecting all consumers and ensuring they have access to world-class communications networks and technologies” said Chairman Genachowski. “I look forward to drawing on Karen’s extensive experience with telecommunications access issues to realize those goals.” Strauss has over 25 years experience working on telecommunications access for people with disabilities. She is a co-founder of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, or COAT, a coalition of over 290 national and regional organizations dedicated to ensuring disability access to emerging Internet-based and digital communications technologies in the 21st century. Ms. Strauss most recently provided consulting services to non-profit consumer groups, educational research institutes, and relay service providers. Previously, she served as legal counsel for Gallaudet University's National Center for Law and Deafness, and the National Association of the Deaf. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Bureau Chief of the former Consumer Information Bureau at the FCC. In that capacity, she helped initiate its first Disability Rights Office and managed the Commission’s consumer and disability access programs and policies. Ms. Strauss holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an LLM from the Georgetown University Law Center. - FCC -